Free Republic

Among the many trends the pandemic accelerated, one of the least noted has been the increase in so-called cashless toll roads—highways where electronic fee-collection systems have replaced human toll collectors. Now, as traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels, another trend is plaguing these new systems: fare evasion. Around the country, turnpike authorities and bridge and tunnel operators are logging hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as scofflaws find increasingly inventive ways to outfox the systems. Though advocates say that the losses represent a small portion of total revenues, some officials are contemplating raising tolls to account for the shortfalls—in the...

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration flags 42,000 so-called "federal employee non-filers" and states the government is limited in its authority to punish them, according to the Washington Times. The IRS puts little effort into targeting the non-filers because of laws that restricts how much information the agency can share with other federal agencies, so it has limit ability to prod or punish the employees, the audit found. As of 2021, delinquent federal employees owed $1.5 billion in unpaid taxes, The Times also reports. “Repeatedly not filing a tax return when a taxpayer is required to do so is...

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has reported an increase in fraudulent unemployment claims during the coronavirus pandemic as the department attempts to assist people who are struggling. An investigative department for the KUSA-TV has found the state has filed more fraudulent claims filed by scammers than legitimate claims filed by residents, the station reported. The state agency said 1.1 million fraudulent claims and 1,043,760 legit claims have been filed since the pandemic began in March. “We have to walk a tightrope from the demand and mission to get out these benefits quickly as possible to...

On Thursday morning, police arrested six women and seven men at a Railroad Avenue home in Hawaiian Paradise Park, including Eligio Lee Bishop, a 38-year-old Georgia man and self-professed cult leader of the “Carbon Nation,” who also is known as “Nature Boy.”

Full Title: Hoboken’s E-Scooter Program In Chaos After Just 3 Days, Streets Filled With Riders Breaking Traffic LawsHOBOKEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – Three days in and it’s already a disaster in the eyes of many New Jersey residents. Hoboken’s e-scooter rental program kicked off on Monday after the state legalized the use of the electric vehicles. Although they’re popular and eco-friendly, the e-scooters aren’t getting a friendly welcome from everyone forced to dodge users not following any traffic laws. Hoboken residents told CBS2 riders are breaking traffic rules and making the roads even more dangerous. CBS2 cameras caught people riding on...

Pro-crime policies work. For criminals and their enablers. Entire cities and areas become unlivable wastelands where only criminals and welfare recipients thrive, and the only businesses are illegal or government funded. Here's what's coming to Dallas County courtesy of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzo. Dallas County's new district attorney announced his office will no longer prosecute "theft of necessary items" up to $750. Finally theft has been legalized for someone other than the government. The announcement drew an immediate reaction from small business owners who are worried that word of the policy will encourage shoplifting.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, after meeting with Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week in Washington, says that he doesn’t believe a federal crackdown on legal marijuana is on the way, adding that Sessions called the Obama administration’s guidance on marijuana “not too far from good policy.” “The meeting was very productive, and overall it was very good,” Jacque Montgomery, press secretary for the Democratic governor, told HuffPost. Montgomery said that Sessions spent about an hour with Hickenlooper, and they discussed the state’s successful marijuana regulation, its collection of data on usage, what the state has learned since the first legal...

An immigration rights activist whose own undocumented status was exposed by a drunken-driving arrest has lost her six-month legal battle to remain in the country. Wendy Uruchi Contreras, a Virginia organizer for the immigrant rights group CASA, is scheduled to be deported to Spain this week after last-ditch appeals were denied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to her husband, Giovani Jimenez. “We are devastated,” said Jimenez, who lives in Fredericksburg, Va., with their American-born children, Alex, 13, and Lucia, 7. “My children are crying, but we know there’s nothing more we can do.”

Across the country people have tried all sorts of ways to trick all-electronic tolling technology from capturing their license plates in order to avoid paying a toll, but officials in Massachusetts said the tricks aren't new and the technology is ready to catch the scofflaws.Massachusetts will move to all-electronic tolling on Friday and has Raytheon's All Electronic Tolling System ready to read E-ZPass transponders as well as take pictures of the vehicles including the rear and front license plates if drivers go through without a transponder.Raytheon's system is able to take color pictures of vehicles and track the make and...

More than 15 years ago, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission decided to offer free-flowing EZPass lanes, a way for motorists to use transponders to report tolls to a credit card for payment. Ohio and other states offer EZPass but motorists must pass through a gate once the system recognizes their transponder. If a motorist does not have a transponder, the gate stays closed. In Pennsylvania, to keep traffic moving, there are no gates. That means it’s easy to drive on the highway without paying tolls. So easy that one New Jersey firm has made more than 7,600 trips and owes more...

Slam on the brakes. That's what state lawmakers want to do to increasingly frequent instances of motorists skirting payment of Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls. The problem wouldn't be nearly as prevalent had many of those same legislators years ago taken a detour around the lame-brain idea that directly resulted in turnpike travel becoming significantly more costly. How costly? Pretty soon only Saudi Arabian sheiks will be able to afford the outrageous tolls, though those guys probably prefer to fly their personal planes from Pittsburgh to Breezewood. Those lacking private jet transportation sidestep the tolls in renegade fashion. They fly through toll...

HARRISBURG — Motorists blow past Pennsylvania Turnpike toll booths every year, resulting in millions of dollars of losses. The agency that manages more than 500 miles of highway is supporting legislation to punish those scofflaws. A bill pending in the state Senate would “give us the hammer we need to go after habitual toll cheats,” Turnpike Commission Chairman Sean Logan said. “This measure would ensure that everyone pays their fair share. There are no free rides.” The bill by Senate Transportation Chairman John Rafferty, R-Montgomery County, and Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, would allow PennDOT to suspend the...

Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan is not happy with Donald Trump’s anti-Mexican rhetoric — and he’s gathering some friends to take a stand against it, according to Billboard.com. Billboard reports that Estefan, 62, has enlisted dozens of friends — including Shakira, Carlos Santana, Thalia, Pepe Aguilar and his wife, singer Gloria Estefan — record We’re All Mexican, which he describes as a musical “celebration of Hispanics and our accomplishments.” The track will also include reggaeton singer Wisin, Wyclef Jean, radio personality Enrique Santos and famed Spanish-American chef José Andrés, and will be released in late September. “There’s a message being sent...

A federal law crafted to fight the mob is giving marijuana opponents a new strategy in their battle to stop the expanding industry: racketeering lawsuits. A Colorado pot shop recently closed after a Washington-based group opposed to legal marijuana sued not just the pot shop but a laundry list of firms doing business with it—from its landlord and accountant to the Iowa bonding company guaranteeing its tax payments. One by one, many of the plaintiffs agreed to stop doing business with Medical Marijuana of the Rockies, until the mountain shop closed its doors and had to sell off its pot...

Those who lollygag in the left lane of highways and interstates could be ticketed under legislation approved in the state House on Wednesday. House Bill 459, by Rep. Bill Hitchens, R-Rincon, was approved 162-9. The bill makes it a misdemeanor for any driver on a divided highway who does not move to the right when a car going faster approaches from behind.

Dear President Obama: I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements. We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, The President of Mexico, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I...

For marijuana advocates, the last 12 months have been a period of unprecedented success as Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana. And now for the first time, a clear majority of Americans (58%) say the drug should be legalized. This is in sharp contrast to the time Gallup first asked the question in 1969, when only 12% favored legalization. Public support for legalization more than doubled in the 1970s, growing to 28%. It then plateaued during the 1980s and 1990s before inching steadily higher since 2000, reaching 50% in 2011. A sizable percentage...

The Obama administration is facing criticism over its attempt to straddle the federal law that makes marijuana illegal and state laws that permit recreational use of the drug. In the first congressional hearing since the administration announced a new, permissive enforcement policy, law enforcement and drug-prevention groups and their congressional allies see an opportunity to push back. The administration's Aug. 29 announcement allows the two states where recreational marijuana use has been legalized — Colorado and Washington — to go their own way without federal interference as long as they implement strong enforcement systems. "We are at a precipice," said...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) appeared on America's News room this afternoon and declared: “I’ve got a news flash for those who want to call people names on amnesty – what we have now is de facto amnesty,” Paul shot back. “We have 11 million people here that have been here, some of them for a decade or more. No one is telling them to go home. No one is sending them home.” Click excerpt for video:

Nearly one in three motorists who use the Intercounty Connector without an E-ZPass transponder don’t pay the toll later, making Maryland’s newest and most expensive highway home to a toll violation rate four times higher than the state average. Individual motorists racked up as much as $1,418 each in unpaid tolls after driving on the ICC, or Route 200, as many as 430 times during the first six months of this year. A rental car company owed $4,263 in ICC toll debt, while a construction company accrued $2,241 for 65 unpaid trips during that time. The new 18.8-mile highway between...